Darfuri student cleared of murder by Khartoum court still not released

Asim Omar, a Darfuri student of the University of Khartoum, who was initially convicted of murdering a police officer in 2016, and acquitted after retrial yesterday, has not yet been released.

On Tuesday, the Khartoum Criminal Court, headed by Judge Atif Abdallah, ruled that Asim Omar was not guilty, and ordered Omar’s immediate release.

A member of Omar’s defence, Hanan Hasan, told Radio Dabanga that the court based its decision on conflicting witnesses, and the contradicting testimony of some witnesses.

She said Omar was not immediately released as a result of other charges still pending against him, laid by some police officers, claiming he had caused them serious harm.

She said that the defence is in the process of following-up the proceedings to release the student on bail.

Arrest

Asim Omar was arrested on May 2 2016 and accused of killing a police officer during protests at the University of Khartoum the previous month.

A series of court sessions, postponements, the sentence of death by hanging – a ruling which prompted hundreds of fellow students and SCP members to demonstrate near the court against the “unfair trial” – and Omar’s appeal, took nearly three years.

Responding to the news, human rights organisation Amnesty International stated: “We join Asim’s family in celebrating this good news which comes as a huge relief after he was originally sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit.

“The authorities must however conduct an independent and effective investigation into allegations that he was tortured in prison. Though Asim has been acquitted, justice can only truly be done once the officials responsible for his ill-treatment are held to account, and he has been provided with appropriate redress for his injuries and imprisonment,” concluded Joan Nyanyuki, Amnesty International’s Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.

Omar alleges that he was severely beaten by guards while in prison, sustaining injuries to one of his legs, his genitals, and his ears that rendered him incapable of appearing in court for one of the sessions.

For months, he had been held incommunicado and reportedly ill-treated. In January 2018, the student started a hunger strike in the Kober prison in Khartoum to protest the prison administration’s decision to continuously shackle him.